Page 12 of The Fallen

?She blocked the connection between them once more, but Brenton was grateful to have seen her most guarded secret. He wanted to know more about Marie, every detail of her life. There was so much they both missed out on.

?He attempted to stand again and this time Marie moved to help him. She still hadn't said anything.

?She was in shock and he couldn't blame her. He couldn't imagine what she must feel like after learning all this within a course of a day.

?He remembered when he was told he was part angel. It was easier for him to accept it since he had someone to guide him from the beginning. When his dad told him, he was expecting it. He already knew he was gifted.

?Now, Marie had to face this after being raised as a human all this time. Her transition wouldn't be easy, but he knew she could do it. Especially after seeing what her mom was capable of.

?“Marie, I know you have a lot of questions,” her mom said, “I promise anything you ask me, I will answer truthfully.”

?Marie slowly walked to her computer desk, pulled out the chair and plopped down. There was an absent look in her eyes.

?“Um, mom, what just happened? I have a crispy hand print in my dresser. How did you do that?” she asked.

?She rubbed her hands together nervously, “Where do I begin?”

?She paced for a minute then finally sat down on the bed facing Marie.

?“This gift was passed down to me, as it was to you, from our ancestor, an angel named Shamsiel. He was given the signs of the sun and had power over fire. All of his descendants could control and manipulate any form of it, but only a handful of his children could produce it.”

?Right before Brenton's eyes, her hand caught fire. She rotated her hand then swirled it in a circle and the flames curved and bent to her will. She made it go up one arm and down the other into her palm, like she was doing some kind of magic trick.

?“I learned when you were born you had the gift to produce as well,” she said and made the flame go out. “It is rare that two would be born to the same family. This made the target on our backs bigger. I had to do what I did to protect you.”

?“What exactly did you do?” Marie asked.

?Brenton tuned out when Renea told Marie some of what he learned through the vision she shared with him. He was still stuck on the flame dance she just did in her hands.

?Out of all the descendants he met, none of them were able to produce fire. He couldn't either. He started to believe, as the others had, none of them were still around. Now, he was sitting in the presence of two of them. He almost felt out of place.

?He knew he needed to listen to what she was saying, this was important for the both of them, but his mind floated through so many possibilities.

?His mentor believed that if a connection was strong enough between twins, they could feed off each others strength. Brenton wondered if that was true in their case. Could he really be able to produce fire since Marie could?

?Marie glared at him and he felt her trying to search his mind. He turned his attention back to her mom, avoiding Marie's piercing eyes.

?She continued talking about the women she took Marie to when she was only two months old to have her shielded; afraid that if she couldn't get Marie's powers under control, they would be captured.

?A breeze passed through the room and they all stopped what they were doing and focused. All at once, they turned toward Marie's window.

?Outside, the wind picked up. Brenton looked out and saw the trees and bushes were only moving around Marie's house. All the streetlights had been blown out and the roads were completely dark. He thought he saw something move across the way, but it went by in a blur.

?Marie and her mom finally joined him only to be knocked back seconds later from the window being blasted. Glass shattered everywhere. Marie buckled over and hit the floor. Her mom hit the wall and Brenton crashed into her dresser that was across the room.

?A knife flew through the window and was lodged into the wall beside him.

?“We're under attack,” Marie's mom yelled and lit her hands on fire. “Get her out.”

?Marie had been knocked unconscious. Brenton picked her up and took her out into the hallway. He propped her up against the wall then went back in the room to help her mom.

?As soon as he closed the door, more knives were being thrown through the window. Marie's mom was catching them in midair and they melted on contact.

?Brenton ran to her side. He waved a hand over hers and his immediately caught fire. They stood side by side trying to contain the attack.

?“We have to draw them out and away from here. I don't want anyone to see this, especially not my husband,” she said. Brenton nodded.

?Together, they jumped out of the bay window and went into hyper speed down the street, toward the woods.

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